Tuesday, December 27, 2005

The Project

The Project is in the mail.Bye, bye, Project!

I am not sure what I think about it.

I started it with far more enthusiasm than skill and knowledge (as I do most things) and so it took far longer to make than I thought it would.I had only been knitting a couple of months when I began this and didn't even have the basics down, but what the hey, I can do it. :-D

I had this wonderful vision for it, based on 2 patterns that I dearly love - the Color on Color Scarf from Scarf Style (the one that Yarner is doing a KAL for and that I would love to be able to justify the $75 worth of yarn...sigh!) and the Anthracite Shawl in Ponchos and Wraps-a Knitter's Dozen.I am very intrigued by the idea of a Log Cabin pattern done in yarns.I would have many different yarns sent to me by many people so both would seem to be a good choice to build from, right?

HA!

To begin with, the Log Cabin in the center required, of course, picking up of stitches, which I had never done. I didn't even recognize a knit stitch from a purl stitch yet, not that I was purling...Grin! That would not have been so hard except I was using...wait for it....Novelty yarns!Yep, I had not progressed past Walmart yarns and thought that all those different textures would be cool. And many of them are. The parts where I began using the same color family and just changing the yarns every few rows in stripes are kinda neat.

Yes, novelty yarns are the work of the Devil and should be destroyed. Local burning times to be announced at a later date.

We all know that knitters have more than one project going at a time, often a big one with a smaller (or several smaller) ones for when you get aggravated with the big one. I did several projects along with this, most not taking more than a few days, and it helped a lot.I learned how to recognize individual stitches, how to pick up dropped stitches, how to weave in ends and bind off....lots of basic stuff which helped Immensely with the NYSFH.

I thought what I had done looked horrid and started it over. A contributor saw what I had done with the first attempt and told me to keep on with that one, so I did.

It never looked finished to me. I added some blocks of color at the ends which helped to balance it some, and did the long stripes across the bottom, one of which I did dropped stitches in the center of to balance the pulling in of some yarns above. Not one of those darn yarns acted the same as another. Finally I tied on the charms and beads (did not sew them in case they want to become jewelry or be in a different place) and pronounced it done.

I have a song for it.Are you familiar with The Song That Never Ends?This is the Shawl That Never Ends.

This is the shawl that never endsIt just goes on and on, my friendSomebody started knitting it not knowing what it wasAnd she'll continue knitting it forever just becauseThis is the shawl that never endsIt just goes........

Never teach your kids this before a road trip of any length.

If I did this again I would either:

1.Use the novelty yarns but just do stripes of texture in the same color familyor2.Ask for good acrylic or superwash wools that would all behave pretty much the same way.

With either way I would assign colors. I finally noticed that there is not one green yarn in this. I find that very interesting.

Although I am sorely afraid that this Project will end up on You Knit What? (maybe I will submit it myself and beat out Domestic Overlord's Overalls of Shame - pics in a few days) I did like making it. I learned a great deal about how yarns behave, how colors work together, how textures change things. And of course the reason for making it was always in my mind. Yes, just close your eyes and feel the love emanating from it.